Pro-Israel Advocacy Group Kicks Off College Speaking Tour to Oppose Breaking the Silence

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A screenshot of the flyer for the “Arab Breaking the Silence” tour. Photo: RoD.

JNS.org – Reservists on Duty (RoD), a pro-Israel organization founded to combat antisemitism on college campuses and elsewhere, will begin a two-week speaking tour called “Arabs Breaking the Silence” on Oct. 16, focusing on speakers with diverse backgrounds from Israel’s minority communities.

RoD was started in response to the group Breaking the Silence (BtS), a far-left NGO that publicizes the testimonies of former IDF soldiers in order to spread criticism of the Israeli military.

The speakers, who are Christian, Muslim, Druze, Bedouin and a Palestinian from the West Bank, will share their experiences living in Israel and serving in the IDF.

“Over the last several years, a small group of IDF reservists have been coming to the US to defame the IDF and tell anyone who cares to listen about the IDF’s alleged human rights violations,” Adam Milstein, one of the sponsors of the Los Angeles leg of the speaking tour, said in a statement.

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“If BtS just reported their allegations to the IDF’s Military Advocate General and/or Israeli justice authorities, we would have no problem with it,” he continued. “But we believe that for Israelis to defame the state of Israel and the IDF outside of Israel’s borders and in front of the naïve American public is wrong.”

The speaking tour, which includes events at colleges and communities in California, Arizona, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and New York, is also sponsored by Students Supporting Israel and RoD.